On Wednesday night, West Virginia men’s basketball will wish their seniors goodbye.
For Josh Eilert though, it could be his last goodbye to the place he’s called home for the better part of two decades. And despite that uncertainty, his focus is still solely on the present.
For the last 17 seasons, West Virginia interim head coach Josh Eilert has served in many roles, though none more challenging and difficult than the role he has served this year. Eilert was handed one of the worst situations possible and he didn’t hesitate to meet the challenge head on.
There’s going to be certain points in anybody’s life, they got to figure out how to navigate and you’re going to find out people have a lot more to them than what meets the eye. It’s how people handle struggles and adversity,” Eilert said of this season.
“Not all is lost by any means. We’re all trying to figure out how we’re becoming the best versions of ourselves. That’s no different than me, or an assistant coach, or a player at the bottom fighting for minutes or a manager that gives every single moment of his extra time to help this program be successful.”
Eilert added that multiple coaches have told him that this season is going to be one of the biggest teaching moments ever and that he will have learned more from this season than any other in his coaching career.
Despite the lessons that Eilert has learned along with the rest of his roster, there is a pretty good chance he is not back at the end of the bench as the head coach for West Virginia in the fall of 2024.
Eilert said even though Wednesday night might be his last game at the WVU Coliseum as a member of West Virginia, he’s not focusing on that, but trying to stay in the present. Something he and WVU have had to do since June.
“I’m not going to put too much thought into that. It’s another beautiful opportunity,” Eilert said of Wednesday’s game.
Eilert recognizes how this opportunity may be his last one to coach as the home team at WVU, but he’s going to embrace the opportunity Wednesday brings, just like he has since taking on the interim head coaching role.
“I’ve been here 17 years in every single capacity. I’m not going to let those emotions get the best of me. I’m going to take the opportunity to live in the present and be there,” Eilert said.
“I think that’s something we have a hard time as our society, is living in the present. We worry about the past and concerned about what the future is going to hold. But we forget to appreciate the present. I have one more opportunity, I know that for sure. I’m going to go out there with a smile on my face.”
